Fighting Addiction
by SpiritWolf126
Summary: Lauralie's life has been spiraling down hill ever since she was 14. First her parents die, then her boyfriend leaves her, and now she's addicted to almost everything. She needs to stop, or her life will be the price. AU GaaraXOC
1. Chapter 1

**Yay, a new story, I will still do my other one, so don't worry. This story won't be very long, only a couple of chapters, and I'll have it done really soon, maybe two days if I bust my ass over it. Anyway, yes this is a GaaraXOC, and if you no likey, you go AWAY! But if you don't mind, I hope you enjoy Lauralie's story. This has all Naruto characters in it somehow, including Akatsuki.**

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It was ironic...I had always told my parents I could take care of myself. I told them they never had to worry about me doing drugs, or drinking, or smoking. Apparently, they didn't have to when they were alive. Now, since they're gone, it's open season for me. My friends try to make me stop, sometimes they take whatever it is I'm doing, or sometimes they yell. Honestly, I don't think they understand why I keep it up...it's the only way I keep everything from catching up to me.

Let me explain just what is going on. My name is Kumori Lauralie, and in this story I am 18 and live in Konoha City, Japan. Four prior, my parents had died in a car accident that made national news, since my dad was a famous author. When they died, I only really had my friends and boyfriend to lean on, because my aunts and uncles wanted nothing to do with me. An old family friend, Kakashi Hatake, took me in, and acted as my guardian until I moved out at 17. My problems began around that time as well. The reason? Well, my boyfriend of four and a half years, Pein, broke up with me for his bimbo fangirl Konan. Pein was two years older than me, and had relationships before ours. In fact, according to my best friends Deidara and Hidan, he had extreme commitment problems.

They were surprised when we managed to last over two months. By the time we hit the two year mark, they were absolutely astounded. When four years had come and passed, they were sure we were going to be staying together. Then, when we broke up however, it was not Deidara or Hidan who had comforted me; they were busy that night. Instead my best of best friends, Shino, had been the one to sit with me. I knew Shino since I was ten, and he had introduced me to everyone else. Shino was my brother, maybe not in blood, but definitely in soul; we did everything together, and ended up dragging our friend Kiba along for the ride. It had taken Shino hours to get me to stop crying, and by that time it was almost four in the morning.

The next day, Shino went to school and left me to hang out at his house. His parents were fine with it, in fact, they absolutely adored me. I've been convinced more than once his mother had tried to get us to start dating. Going back to the point, I was all alone in the house, and suffering through the second worst day of my life. Now, when I opened a cabinet, and found Shibi Aburame's alcohol stash, I couldn't help myself. Three hours later Shibi had come home, and found two of his gin bottles empty, and me puking my guts out in the bathroom. He had been mad, sure, but didn't yell at me too badly, since he understood I was already upset. Unfortunately, he did tell Shino what happened, after cleaning the mess up. I had never seen Shino that upset before, and that only made everything worse.

After sleeping off the after effects of the alcohol, and then leaving the Aburames' house, I was home alone. Usually Pein and the others, meaning the rest of his gang, hung out around my house. It was extremely quiet without Deidara and Hidan arguing, Kisame raising hell, and Tobi running around screaming. The quiet let me think...about how the alcohol had dulled the pain, if only for a short time. Now, understand that I had tried to resist the temptation, but it got to be too much. My neighbour, Zabuza, was a 24 year old gang member, with his 20 year old boyfriend Haku living with him. Unfortunately for me at the time, Zabuza was more than willing to stock me with alcohol, for a price of course. Being that my father was famous, and the insurance on him and my mom was huge, I definitely had the money.

And thus began my drinking problems; the drug and smoking problems would come later. For the first few weeks, I only drank when I knew I wouldn't get caught. It got to the point where that wasn't enough however. I began drinking wrecklessly, even when I knew someone was coming over to see me. Soon enough, I was caught by Deidara and Hidan, and was yelled at once more. The yelling began a large argument, and the two had left, taking my alcohol with them. Zabuza refused to get me more for a couple more days, so I needed something else to help me. This is where my smoking began.

I would go out at night, and find someone old enough to buy me cigarettes. It cost a little less than alcohol, but it wasn't as good at killing the pain. Really though, I didn't care at all, as long as it did something. Everything had become too much for me, and I needed an escape. So, for nearly two weeks I kept the smoking on the down low, and carried around mints and perfume to keep the smell from alerting someone. And then, it blew up in my face again, when I was caught once more. This time, it was my friend Ino who found out; you will never know the definition of loud until you heard how she screamed at me. By the time she left, the whole street, and possibly the whole neighbourhood, knew I was a smoker. Zabuza thought it was funny, but Haku didn't. At this point I should have realized everything was going wrong, because I just couldn't care what Ino thought.

The warning signs were clear, and they riddled my path everywhere I went. I was drinking, I was smoking, and I didn't give a dman. In fact, the only thing I wouldn't do at this point, was cutting myself; I had at least some morals left. So, with the drinking and smoking both discovered, and me being watched like a zoo animal by everyone, I found I needed something else to do. It was hard, a lot harder than I thought; Shino and Kiba followed me everywhere now, and at least one of my friends stayed over until I went to sleep. My chance came over the summer into my senior year, when Shino was forced to go home for an emergency.

Wandering the city, I came up on an alley that had a lot of yelling in the back. Mother always used to tell me I was too damn curious for this world, and it proved to be true. I walked to the back of the alley, and met Kimimaro, a drug dealer. He 'kindly' offered me some Cocaine, and I took it. It cost me a bundle, but it was so much better than the alcohol or smoking. The best thing was, I could take it with so few signs that I was high, once I learned to act correctly. Their only sign, was my eyes, which would turn red. Thankfully, I could blow it off that I had been crying. Over the summer I got worse, and upgraded from Cocaine to Heroin.

At this point, I needed to start wearing longer sleeves, to hide the injection marks on my elbow. Needless to say, my friends got suspicious, but did not badger me themselves. Instead, they went to Kakashi, a low blow since I held the man close to my heart for taking care of me. Kakashi came to me a few days later, and started to question me about my sudden wardrobe change. I blew off all his questions, saying I just liked the longer sleeves better. Seeming to accept my answer, Kakashi backed off, and I thought I had won. My victory was short lived however, because I came home a week later to find them in my apartment. Sitting at the table in my kitchen were Kakashi, Shibi, and Tsume, Kiba's mother. In front of the three, was my Heroin, and they were watching me blankly.

The proceeding argument was the worst out of all three. Though I was into my narcotics too deep, and really couldn't feel bad, I knew I had let the three down. Years later I would feel like shit for this, and be unable to stop apologizing, but at that moment I hadn't cared. Kakashi had been mad...very mad. We yelled at each other for nearly two hours before he had taken my Heroin and left, Tsume and Shibi close behind. At this point, I was frustrated beyond belief, and had been foolish. I thought I knew everything, and that these things were okay, and I wasn't hurting anyone but myself...but that changed the next year, when I overheard a conversation between my friends.

-_-_-_-Normal POV-_-_-_-

Lauralie walked slowly around the main building of Konoha High's campus. You could tell with one glance at her eyes she was high, but she hid it well. It was common knowledge you didn't piss Lauralie off when she was high or drunk, unless you wanted a death sentence. Back when she was sober and clean, she had been violent, but now she was just plain vicious. In fact, it was rare for anyone, her friends included, to be able to talk with her without getting their heads bitten off. Hanging between the pointer and middle fingers of her right hand was a cigarette, and occasionally she brought it up to take a drag. Deciding she really didn't like walking on the path, as she was high and her logic was terrible, Lauralie turned walked to a clump of trees to her left. The trees' shade felt cool on her skin, and she smirked in enjoyment at the break from the hot sun. Walking through the close standing trunks, Lauralie searched for a place to seat herself.

"I just don't know what to do anymore Shikamaru." Lauralie looked up in slight interest. That sounded surprisingly like Ino, and apparently Shikamaru was with her.

"I know, but we need to keep trying; it may not seem like it, but she needs us." Creeping closer, Lauralie crouched down by a tree near the pair. This had caught her attention; who was this 'she'?

"We can't help her if she doesn't want us to." Lauralie leaned against the tree and remained silent. There was the sound of shifting, and then silence.

"Would you rather just leave her, and let her kill herself?" Shikamaru's tone was gentle, but questioning; he would never yell at Ino, he loved her.

"No, but how do we help her Shika?" Ino's words were choked, and it was obvious she was crying.

"We just have to keep stopping her in any way we can. If it comes down to it, we get her professional help." Lauralie's nose twitched as she listened, and a smirk wormed it's way onto her face. Obviously, whoever this 'she' was, was a complete loon if she needed professional help.

"I really doubt Lauralie would take some professional sitting her down and treating her like she's crazy." Okay, now this interested her even more; they were talking about her. Stopping her concentration for a moment, Lauralie shook her head as she remembered she had called herself a loon.

"Probably not, but it would be best for her, she needs to stop Ino." A small sob came from their direction, and Lauralie jerked in surprise at hearing it, she had been yelling at herself silently.

"I know, and I'm so scared for her, she doesn't deserve for this to happen." Lauralie sat against the tree this time, and raised her cigarette to take a drag from it.

"I know Ino, I know. Nothing's really gone her way, has it? Troublesome woman's had nothing but hell, but she really needs to end this." Lauralie paused after Shikamaru spoke, and lowered her cigarette to listen once more.

"But she won't Shika, she's too far in to get out." Lauralie blinked at Ino's words, and furrowed her brows in irritation. She could get out any time she wanted, she just didn't want to. Besides, if anything happened to her, nobody would really care.

"Then we have to help her out Ino, she's not too far in until she's gone." Another sob sounded from Ino, this time more desperate.

"But she doesn't realize that the more she does this, the more she kills herself, and she's taking us with her!" Lauralie jerked at Ino's words. That was impossible, she was only hurting herself.

"No, she doesn't, and I don't think she will unless we tell her outright, troublesome." Lauralie leaned against the tree and raised the cigarette. Ino's words echoed in her mind, and she couldn't seem to shove them out. Just as she was about to inhale on the cigarette, she stopped. Pulling it away from her face, she stared at the innocent looking white stick. Pushing up off the tree, Lauralie stood, and then threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped on it. For some reason, what Ino had said was bothering her, and she didn't have the heart to smoke at that moment.

Walking back in the direction she had come, Lauralie thought her situation over. She had thought the entire time she was only hurting herself, but if what Ino had said was true, then everyone was getting hurt. Shaking her head, Lauralie walked to the parking lot, where her bike was sitting in it's space at the end. Climbing on to the shiny black machine, Lauralie jammed the key into the ignition and turned it with a jerk of her wrist. A purr came from the engine, and Lauralie backed her bike up enough to pull out of the parking lot and race down the road to her home.

-_-_-_-Break-_-_-_-

I did a lot of thinking that night, and what I came up with, I didn't like. With Ino's words from earlier in my head, I thought over all of my friends' reactions to my actions. It turned out, she was right, I had clearly been hurting them, and I was such a careless bitch I didn't care. Why had it taken me getting basically slapped in the face to realize I was hurting everyone; except Pein, who just didn't care. In reality, I should have been out to just hurt him, make him jealous or something. Years later, Pein would tell he had indeed been as hurt over my behaviour as everyone else, perhaps even more because he blamed himself for it.

The truth was sitting right in front of me. I needed to stop, but I couldn't do it here, there were too many memories. So, I gathered everything, my alcohol, my drugs, and my cigarettes, and threw it into a pile in my backyard. After gathering a few changes of clothes into a bag, I tossed my cell phone into the pile as well. Opening the last bottle of alcohol, I poured it all over the pile, and tossed a lit match on it. A fire shot up with a roar, and I backed away slowly, and then turned and ran out to my bike. Jumping on, I glanced at my house one last time, and then took off down the street, and out of the city, leaving everything behind.

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**There's chapter one. The point of the narration is it's an older Lauralie, telling you her story from when she's younger. I really don't care if you don't like it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 of Fighting Addiction. I only to plan to make about three chapters to this story, so there's really nothing special about it. Later on, after I finish my other story, I'll come back and add more chapters, but for now, I'm limiting it to three.**

**Disclaimer: I only own Lauralie and the plot.**

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_The fire had burned down the entire house, and nearly spread to surrounding houses before being extinguished. Police say that the young Kumori girl was not in the house, however are unable to locate her. Many are questioning if perhaps it was Kumori herself that set the fire, with an intention to set the entire neighbourhood on fire. According to neighbors, she was actually an alcoholic, smoker, and drug addict, forcing the police to look into these claims._

"Damn, I guess Zabuza's screwed over." Lauralie turned in her seat to face the two across from her, who had been watching the news with her. Beside her, a boy her age had been staring at the screen as well, but seemed uninterested in what exactly had been broad casted.

"Fucking hell shorty, what the hell did you burn you entire house down for?!" It was two days after Lauralie had made her escape from Konoha. After driving for nearly four hours, she ended up in Suna, a city that was a fair distance away from her home. Finding the Suna Reformation Clinic, Lauralie had checked herself in, and met the 'Sand Siblings'. To be truthful, it was them that met her...Kankuro meeting her fist. He had decided he was going to grope her ass, and been put in an extreme amount of pain. Temari had introduced them, and they had stuck to her after that. If she were to tell the truth, it wasn't that bad, and they were starting to grow on her.

"I didn't mean to kill the house, just my crap, so butt the fuck out she-male." Two days without drugs, alcohol, or a cigarette were really starting to get to Lauralie. She needed them, but at the same time, she didn't want them. Thankfully, she had the silent support of the three, who were here for the same reason as her, just not as bad. It was around mid-morning, meaning lunch was about two hours away, and breakfast had ended three hours ago. All the 'patients' had gathered in the rec-room, and were entertaining themselves with various means. The sudden appearance of the news cast on her had caught the four's attention, and the TV had been turned up so they could hear.

"Oi, I told you not to call me that! It's paint god damnit, not makeup!" Kankuro had the odd habit of painting lines on his face for no apparent reason. Lauralie just thought that whatever he had done had gone to his head and permanently screwed him up. According to his sister Temari, he had done it ever since he was little. When she asked Gaara about it, he merely stared at her for a moment, and then shook his head.

"Fucking hell she-male, you put on makeup and play with damn dolls, I get every right I want to fucking call you anything!" Now she was sounding like Hidan...maybe she shouldn't have spent so much time around him. And now she couldn't help but wonder if her friends missed her, or were happy she was gone.

"Oh yeah, well if you were any shorter, you would legally be a midget!" Lauralie snapped her attention to Kankuro and growled low in her throat.

"I'm 5'5" you fucking asshole, call me a midget again and we'll see how many of those dolls of yours I can stick up your ass and down your throat!" Despite appearances, Kankuro and Lauralie seemed to get along really well when not screaming at each other. The only real problem is that they both had attitudes, and they clashed quite often. Temari and Gaara tended to ignore these spats, as they ended quickly, with Lauralie either stomping off, or Kankuro groaning in pain on the floor. Today seemed like a stomping off day, as the young brunette got up and walked across the room to the pool table to play a game. Kankuro grinned, and celebrated his victory for a moment, and then turned to his siblings.

"She's going to be going into withdrawl soon." Temari focused her eyes on the young girl across the room. She had an irritated look on her face, and it was obvious she was getting desperate for some type of narcotic.

"Yeah...you have to feel bad for her, she was on a lot more than we were." Kankuro shrugged, and shot a glance at Lauralie.

"You can't unless you know why she was on the stuff. If she was on it because she thought it sounded cool, then it's her own fault." Temari glared at her brother evilly.

"No wonder she calls you an asshole. Something really bad could have happened, and here you are shooting her down." Kankuro turned to look at his sister, a defensive look on his face.

"Hey, we have no idea why she started, so I might be right." Neither seemed to notice Gaara had gotten up, and walked over to the pool table to join Lauralie's game. Settling his aqua eyes on his companion, Gaara waited patiently while she re-racked the balls so they could start their game. Her ebony hair was pulled back in a low ponytail over her shoulder, and she let her bangs hang in her silver eyes. Temari had taken her shopping a few hours after she showed up, so she had new cloths to wear, instead of the two outfits she had brought.

"Are you going to play, or stare at me?"Gaara blinked, and then glared at Lauralie as she smirked at him. Leaning over the table, he hit the cue ball into the stack of other balls, and watched them bounce off each other. Lauralie leaned over the table, and hit the cue ball off one of the colored balls, sending it into a hole.

"Why are you here?" Lauralie blinked, and the looked up at Gaara. His red bangs were hanging in his eyes, and he was staring at the table, looking for a move to make. The black circles about his eyes made him look gothic, and he went with the look with his cloths. A black tank top, and baggy black jeans were his clothing of choice for the day. Usually, the only thing that changed about his outfit was the color of his tank top, so he didn't have much variety.

"Same reason as you, I'm addicted to drugs, alcohol, and smoking." Gaara didn't respond, instead hitting one of the striped balls into the top left corner hole. Lauralie scanned his face, looking for any sign of a reaction. Normally, she would be distracted by the tattoo above his left eye, or the fact he had no eyebrows. Right now though, he was more interested in why he was questioning her.

"Why are you addicted?" Damn, he kept them short, sweet, and right to the point. Taking her turn, Lauralie shot another ball into a hole, and focused on the game rather than Gaara.

"My parents died in a car crash when I was 14. Four years later, my boyfriend of nearly five years broke up with me for a bimbo. After that, my friends didn't come around much and my problems started. It got worse over time, and I thought everyone was against me. I let down a lot of people, and that's nothing to be happy about." Gaara didn't respond, and waited for his turn to shoot. When Lauralie leaned back, he searched the table and found his shot. Taking it, his eyes slid from the ball to Lauralie, who was watching him thoughtfully.

"You guys never told me why your problems started." Gaara shrugged a single shoulder, and leaned back to let her take her turn.

"Various reasons." Lauralie sighed and nodded, knowing it was the best she was getting at that point in time. The game continued on for nearly an hour, the two talking about various things as they played. Eventually she learned the three were orphans like her, their mother died giving birth to Gaara, and their father killed himself two years back. Gaara was rather anti-social, but over time he made his answers longer, and was more willing to answer. By the time the lunch bell sounded, Lauralie knew more about Gaara than anyone besides his siblings. After abandoning their game, the two walked to the lunch room with Temari and Kankuro.

-_-_-_-Two days later-_-_-_-

Lauralie shifted in discomfort as a decent shock of pain ran up her spine. It was now four days after she checked into the clinic, and she really needed something to end the pain. The pain started yesterday afternoon, and had been getting worse since. She knew by the time she went to bed it would either end, or she would be screaming her lungs out in pain. Gaara seemed to understand what was going on, but wouldn't let her take any pain killers. According to him, she could get addicted to those, and have to go through withdrawal again; he had done it himself. Temari recommended she lay down and try to sleep, but she didn't have the patience for that. After explaining her reasons for being there, Kankuro didn't start as many spats, and seemed to have more respect for her.

"Lauralie, it's time for dinner." Nodding her head, Lauralie attempted to get out of her seat. A wave of pain raced along her body, and she winced slightly. Gaara, who had come with Temari to retrieve her, helped her out of her seat and down the hall to the cafeteria. Kankuro had saved them a table, and they quickly joined him after getting food from the server. Lauralie quickly ate, and then stood slowly to go to her room. The pain seemed to be getting worse, and she didn't want to be in front of everyone when it came full force.

"Night guys." The three bid her good night, and she quickly shuffled down the hall to her room. Closing the door, she practically ran to her bed and collapsed on top of it. After pulling over a pillow, she stuffed her face into it and screamed as loud as she could, but it was muffled to a dull level. Lauralie held the pillow close, and sobbed into it as the pain started coming more and more frequently, and at a higher intensity. Reaching for her end table, Lauralie fumbled for a moment, and then remembered her phone was now nothing more than a charred piece of plastic. Why had she done that again? Was she really that stupid when she was high? It didn't matter now, there was nobody here to help her. She wanted Shino, he always made things better when they were bad.

Whimpering to herself, Lauralie felt shakes start to accompany the pain in her body. It was unbearable, and she suddenly realized what was so stupid about her addictions. This was nothing, if she could get through this, then she could make it the entire way. But she knew, if she hadn't stopped, if Ino hadn't woken her up, she could have easily died. She owed her blond friend her life, and would never be able to pay her back. A cry of pain tore it's way from her throat as a particular nasty wave raced up her spine.

Curling up into herself, Lauralie decided she was going to wait it all out. Even if she was alone, she would make it through this. Closing her eyes, Lauralie tried to force herself into sleep. Her eyes snapped open when she felt herself being pulled up, and a pair of arms wrapping around her waist. Glancing behind her slightly, she caught sight of a lock of red hair, and knew instantly who it was. Gaara was helping her a lot lately, but she was grateful for it. Leaning back against his slightly larger frame, Lauralie closed her eyes and promised herself she would endure the pain.

-_-_-_-A week later-_-_-_-

The rec room was filled with murmurs of irritated patients who had been woken at 7:30 for breakfast. Gaara and the others sat at the back of the room, Lauralie nibbling on the muffin she had stolen from the doctors lounge. They didn't get muffins, instead they got oatmeal or cereal. Hell, not even eggs were served, and when there was no eggs, she put her foot down. If you don't give her eggs, she'll take whatever it is you get. For example, the nice banana muffin she had swiped from them. A couple days ago a new kid named Sai had shown up. He, like Temari, was three years older than Lauralie and Gaara, but he was cool. In fact, she had conned him into hanging out with them, and he was teaching her to draw. Not that she didn't already know, thanks to Deidara and his boyfriend Sasori, but he was teaching her the way he drew, with only a few lines.

"Damn it shorty, how come you always get the good food?" Lauralie looked up from her muffin at Kankuro curiously. Now that she had finally gotten the drugs from her system, her eyes were a lot clearer, and a much more startling shade of silver than they thought. They weren't as dark as they thought, in fact, they were extremely light. She stared at Kankuro dully for a moment, and then smirked.

"You gotta take it dude; they'll never just give it to you." Kankuro huffed, and turned away in defeat.

"I'm not a thief like you." Gaara looked up from the hand held game he had been playing. After staying with her last week, the two were a lot closer, and had a large respect for each other.

"Shut up Kankuro." Kankuro slouched, but did respond; you never spoke back to Gaara, it was just a rule. In fact the only one who ever got away with it was Lauralie two days ago when he had told her to stop yelling at Kankuro. She had then yelled at Gaara, and the older siblings had expected him to do something. They were astounded when he only glared lightly at her, and then 'hn'ed.

"Yeah she-male, shut up." There was no rule about talking back to Lauralie, however.

"Did you just order me around midget?" Lauralie smirked, and put down her muffin.

"Yes I did, are you going deaf now, too?"

" What did you say? I couldn't hear you, your mouth is too far away from my ear." Lauralie stuck her tongue out at Kankuro and went back to her treat. Just because he was 6'2", he loved to hold it over her head. Temari looked up, and smiled at Lauralie.

"I'll get him." Reaching over to her brother, Temari smacked him upside the head. Kankuro flinched, and rubbed against the bump lightly.

"I'm always getting ganged up on." Lauralie smirked, and glanced over at Gaara curiously. He had gone back to his game, and was playing it silently as they talked. Leaning over his shoulder, Lauralie watched with fascination as he played, destroying every enemy that presented itself to him. He had only stiffened slightly when she had leaned on him, and relaxed again when all she did was watch.

"Panda, what exactly is so fascinating about that game?" Gaara flinched at his nickname, and refused to answer. They had all evidently earned nick names with the now cheerful brunette, Kankuro being She-male, Sai as Belly Boy, him as Panda, and Temari as Bun-bun. Kankuro had dubbed Lauralie herself Shorty, as it was the first thing he had called her.

"It's entertainment." Lauralie blinked, and then shrugged.

"Making fun of she-male is entertainment, that's just boring." Gaara smirked slightly, and went back to his game as Lauralie started yet another spat with Kankuro. For some reason, he felt he wasn't going to be shaking her off to soon, and he really didn't want to. She was entertaining, and she kept Kankuro in line. Glancing back up, Gaara stared at Lauralie and then went back to his game. He could really imagine spending a long time with her; the only thing to do was to convince her of it.

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**There, chapter 2. This is going really fast, but I'm going to be coming back later and rewriting/adding on chapters.**


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